Open Letter

to Justin Trudeau

Dear Mr. Trudeau,

The Site C Dam is a proposed 60-meter high, 1,050-meter wide hydroelectric dam across the Peace River, on Treaty 8 territory in northeastern British Columbia. It would create an 83-kilometer long reservoir submerging 78 First Nations heritage sites, including burial grounds and places of cultural and spiritual significance. This is flagrant violation of the Constitution Act. The biodiversity and wildlife which is at risk is valuable not only in and of itself, but also for its importance in traditional ways of life for the Treaty 8 First Nations.

Along with the culturally important lands, approximately 5,550 hectares of ALR land would be flooded. BC agrologist Wendy Holm has estimated that the Peace River Valley could annually feed one million people with its unique micro-climate, alluvial soils, and access to water. This wasteful attitude towards prime agricultural resources would demonstrate a flagrant disregard towards food security issues both within Canada and around the globe.

Site-C violates International and Federal law by breaking treaty rights. Site-C and all construction is therefore in direct contravention of section 35 of the Constitution Act; Section 35 falls outside of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, beginning in Part II of the Constitution. Therefore Section 35 is exempt from the “Notwithstanding Clause” that applies to the Charter. Because of this Provincial and Federal Governments cannot make decisions that override indigenous rights. It is therefore evident that the BC Provincial Government is acting in extreme negligence of duty, and actively violating Federal Law.

Under your predecessor, Canada voted against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In December 2015 you promised to partner "with Indigenous communities, the provinces, territories, and other vital partners, (to) fully implement the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, starting with the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples". The time to implement Call to Action 92(i) of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is now. Call to Action 92(i) asks the corporate sector in Canada to "commit to meaningful consultation, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous peoples before proceeding with economic development projects."

The Treaty 8 First Nations have not provided consent to the Site C dam. At the very least, this requires an immediate halt to construction in the Peace River Valley, as anything less amounts to an infringement of aboriginal treaty rights and a breach of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Both of these multilateral treaties protect the rights of indigenous peoples to practice their way of life, and to control and protect land and resources to that end. This is a matter of human rights, and it is time the Government of Canada afforded Treaty 8 First Nations the same human rights afforded to the rest of its citizens.

During your campaign, you promised to build a "renewed nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous Peoples,” and we're holding you to that promise. We're calling for a halt to the construction of the Site C dam until the Treaty 8 First Nations have been appropriately consulted, the current court cases by the West Moberly and Prophet River First Nations have concluded, and the BC Utilities Commission has completed an independent review of the project. We ask that you intervene now and commit to refusing all further federal permits required for construction of the Site C Dam.